The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-10-31
THE BLOODY SHIRT.

reception of jeff Davis at Macon, Ga. Viewed
in the most charitable light possible it was
offensive and disgusting to the last degree,
while many will see in it the foreshadowing of
future danger. Nothing that has occurred in
: the North has been at all comparable to it for
reyiving war memories and sectional animos-
tiles. The whole proceeding, from beginning
to end, seems to have been planned for the
purpose of clarifying Jeff Davis and the lost
cause, and proving to thesworldsthat beneath
the ashes of submission the spirit of secession
and disloyalty still burns brightly. In view
of the whole business the first question that
occurs is, why is not jeff Davis permitted to
remain in obscurity and quiet, fill out the
remnant of his days and die unwept, union
ored and unsunge Why does he persist in
thrusting himself before the public, and why
do the Southern people persist in dragging
him forth to laud, eulogize and worship himf
He is not in public life He represents moth
ing but lost cause. He is disfran-
chised traitor to his country. He
ought to have been hanged. It was
mistaken leniency not to have done so. He
expected no less punishment, the South ex-
pected it, and the civilized world would have
approved it. He deserved hanging infinitely
nore than the Chicago Anarchists do. When
he embraced the rebel flag at Macon and
waved it over the heads of the cheering null
titude, he initiated the Anarchists by insult
ino the fac that nrotacfc him and o,,traoino
the country that gives him refuge, adding
the spirit of anarchism to the crime of treason.
That he lives at all is due to unexampled
mercy on the part of the government he tried
to destroy. If ne would only keep quiet, aud
if the Southern people would stop clarifying
him, the North could tolerate and forget his
existence, but it is exasperating to have him
constantly splitting his venom abroad and the
Southern people going wild over him at every
available opportunity.
Why was Davis invited to Macon, and why
did he 60 thereG Simply to furnish an OPP
portunity for clarifying him and the lost
cause. And it was done with a vengeance.
That which is printed and which has reached
us is doubtless faint picture mere echo of
the reality. It was an ovation to treason and
an outburst of disloyalty. Speakers and
people alike gushed and wept over the rebel
flag. Davis, addressing the multitude, said:
II am like that flag Confederate flag heldup
in front of him torn and tattered by storms
and old age. love it for its own sake; love
it for your sake; ] love it because it stands as
memento of what your fathers did and
hoped that you would do"
Surely, there was an American flag in view
somewhere. Why did he did not eulogizs
thatP He had no word to say for the flag of
the Union but for the flag of secession and
treason, 81 love it." Then Governor Gordon,
Democratic United States Senator, said
Of Davis:
at is his good fortune, after an eventful
life, filled with stormy scenes and vicissi-
tudes to look back upon career without a
blot stain, life that has been spent in
the service of his country and his country's
liberty"
This is the General Gordon who is now MAX
ing Democratic speeches in Ohio for the Cleve-
land Democracy. He sees no blot or stain
in Davis's career = nothing but devo-
ton to the service of his country
and his country's liberty. No con-
fession of error there, no admission that the
South was wrong-nothing but a glorifca-
ton of treason. Then General jackson,
whom President Cleveland appointed minister
to Mexico, made a speech, in which he said:
1.-THE sun of modern as compared with
ancient civilization. home rule as con-
trasted with Roman civilization, it rose in the
west and now mounts the western armament
red with the blood of confederate heroes,
moist with tears of confederate widows and
orphans. Eastward shall it continue to roll,
with it the blessed light of the
Christian civilization all around the globe.
And so surely as it moves it shall bring the
day of final triumph to be decreed by the
mind and conscience of man to time -honored
truth In that triumphant procession Abra-
ham Lincoln shall not move as the rightful
President but Jefferson Davis, the so-called
traitor-leader of so-called lost cause"
General Jackson is a candidate for United
States Senator, and he tried to win popularity
by placing Jeff Davis above Abraham Lin
coin. And the old traitor sat there and APP
propriated the fattery, the crowd cheered,
confederate flags waved, and all the emblems
Of the lost cause were lifted up for the people
to worship.
Nothing of this would have happened had
4 Republican President been elected in 1884.
[f Democratic President should be elected
N 1888 the country may expect frequent
repetition Of such scenes and many other
things now undreamed of or but dimly fore
shadowed. We are yet in the green tree;
what will be done in the dry2
DR.. w. j. HOLLAND, naturalist Of the |
United States Eclipse expedition, now in |